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I love that English, like all living languages, grows and breathes as words fall in and out of vogue and new terms are coined and cojoined.

But I hate to see words misused. Especially if that misuse makes it into the popular lexicon.

“Blog” is one of my biggest pet peeves. This post is a part of a blog. It is on or in a blog. I was blogging when I wrote it. But, unless there’s nothing here at all except for this post, this post is not a blog. It drives me nuts to see people write “I just wrote a blog.” when they mean they just wrote a post or article on their blog. I suspect it drives me nuts less because of the actual misuse and more because I fear that the misuse will eventually become the new proper use, and that’s just wrong.

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I watched parts of Jamie Oliver’s “Jamie’s Eat to Save Your Life” program last Sunday night on the Food Network. At first I was a little bored by it, but it was actually pretty good. (If you missed it, you can watch it on Youtube.)

It got me thinking about some of the things that non-obese people do/say to obese people that really annoy me. OK, I know that kind of list could be reeeeeeeeally long so I’ll only pick the top three annoyances (you’re welcome):

“You’ll lose weight if you just eat less and exercise more”

My sister and I are opposite sides of the food issues coin: while I binge eat, she’s an exercise addict and, at times in her life, has been a borderline anorexic. She came to visit me for a couple of weeks several years ago, at a time when her body image issues were quite obvious. After she admitted to exercising rigourously in my bathroom because she caught a glimpse of her “fat legs” in the mirror (she’s a runner so she has a runner’s muscular legs but she sees the muscle and thinks “fat”), she and I had a long discussion about eating and food issues during which she pulled out the old “You’ll lose weight if you just eat less and exercise more”. It’s an arrogant naivité. Whatever an obese person might say in public defense of themselves, we all know inside that eating less/better and exercising more will make us lose weight. We’re not stupid. But you don’t become obese without there being some underlying mental or emotional issues that need to be addressed. Just losing weight won’t make those issues go away, and in fact that’s just likely to make people switch to a different addiction. (My food addiction and my sister’s exercise addiction are both manifestations of some deep, underlying emotional issues — and neither is healthy in the long-term.)

People who think they must critique your food

My mother worries about my weight constantly and has done so since I hit puberty. Every conversation with her invariably turned turned to advice about what I could be doing to lose weight. A couple of years ago, I told her and my father that they were no longer allowed to raise the issue of my weight — if I brought it up myself, it would be to share, not to start a dialogue. They’ve been good about accepting that.

They’re not the people I’m talking about in this peeve, though. They’re just being parents, and I understand that. I’m talking about people like this guy I used to work with who, whenever the team was out for lunch, felt he had to comment on how unhealthy whatever I’d ordered was, and offer me tips for losing weight. I eventually had to tell him to shut up.Most obese people know what they need to do — or not do — to lose weight. In fact, I suspect that many obese know a great deal more about nutrition and health-related topics than the average person. We don’t need you to preach to us, to attempt to educate us with unsolicited advice. Unless we’re eating food off your plate, it is none of your business. And unless you’re asked for your advice, keep it to yourself.*

Doctors saying “I’d be happy if you just lose x pounds”

Liars. They wouldn’t be happy. They’d be happier than they would be if you lost nothing, but the instant you reach that goal, they’ll come up with a new “Well, if you only lost x more pounds, you’d [gain this benefit]”. They won’t truly be happy until you are within the acceptable range and/or meet their criteria for ideal size/weight. Don’t get me wrong. I understand why they do it. But it’s a little hypocritical, a little patronizing, and a lot annoying.

*Just to clarify — I’m talking about one-on-one communications here, not articles, blog posts, books, etc. Advise away in your own personal space. You may reach someone open to your advise. But when you’re talking to someone specific, be they friend or acquaintance, keep it to yourself unless you’re asked for it.

And it always feels like a step backwards. Oh, I’m sure that eventually I’ll get used to things and it won’t be so annoying, but right now I’m cranky about it. It doesn’t resize well — I frequently don’t have my browser open at maximum width and so now the updated, “floating” right-hand sidebar now overlaps my posting area.

Not happy about that. The new WordPress dashboard design appears to be expecting a minimum window width of just shy of 1000 pixels — I could understand 800, like many WordPress themes, but why 1000? One of the main reasons for locking widths is usually to accomodate header graphics and the like — there are none in the WordPress dashboard so I fail to see why they couldn’t make all of the columns resizeable.

Hrmph!

* (Yes, I know it wasn’t sudden, but I suspect that most people don’t read WordPress.com blog posts.)

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It was bad enough having to endure it from Christian all during last year’s Project Runway and then having to endure it throughout cycle 10 on America’s Next Top Model. But she’s doing it again. Tyra is using “fierce” all over the freaking place. Enough already.

The first episode of America’s Next Top Model 11 is getting weirder — and, yes, more stupid — each season. This was unbelievably bad. The whole Top Model Institute of Technology thing is just really cheesy. It looks like a really low budget (and I mean a couple of hundred dollars, tops) Sci Fi movie. Or 80s porn.

Top 5 America’s Next Top Model 11 pet peeves for this week (in addition to the above):

The cattiness about and towards Isis — I’m all for general cattiness (that’s part of why we watch these kinds of reality shows) but that’s going to an ugly place almost immediately from the start.

Clark — Her beauty pageant looks don’t warrant the conceit she exhibits; and she’s one of the bitchiest girls there. Maybe they’ll cut off all her hair in the makeover episode.

Sharaun — Didn’t think anyone could be more conceited than Clark but here she is.

Hannah continually mentioning that she grew up without water or electricity — We get it. You done growed up with nothing in the middle of nowhere. Time to move on.

Tyra making the one plus-sized model hopeful stuff extra padding around her

Top 5 America’s Next Top Model 11 likes for this week:

Clark being picked nearly last in just about everything — seriously, the girl needs to be taken down several pegs.

Sharaun being eliminated — she was just too cocky for words. Talk about asking the Universe to slap you upside the head

Isis — I don’t think she has a hope in hell of winning but she’s more model-world-savvy than any of the others

Elina — One of my favourites this season, despite her having the hots for Clark. Mind you, if she can help Clark smarten the hell up, that’s even more reason to like her

Sheena — Another favourite this season, possibly even my top favourite at this point

Did you feel the Top Model Institute of Technology theme worked?Hell, no. The concept might have worked but the cheese was way over-the-top.

What do you think of Tyra’s finalist choices?I think she picked pretty well. I might have swapped a couple but overall, I agree with her choices.

How do you feel about the girls’ reaction to Isis?I think the overall reaction was good. Asking questions is a good sign. The cattiness from some of them was, as I said above, really ugly and says more about the girls saying the ugliness than the object of their jabs.

Is Elina’s super-strong sexuality for real? Or for drama?Could be a little of both, but I would lean towards real. I know a couple of people like her and they are genuine. I’d love to see her hitting on Clark. I think Clark would freak out. Did you notice she was the first hug Clark after Clark was called second to last of the 14? She’s making the moves already. Too funny.

What did you think of the “voting is sexy theme?”The concept was interesting and might be effective. I’m not sure about the sets. Bureacracy? Seriously? I get most of the others because they were about key issues — immigration, privacy, education — but “bureaucracy? Glad that Clark had that one but still think it was a lame choice.

Which girl is your early favorite?Elina and Sheena first, followed by Marjorie

Whose photo was the best? Worst?Clark’s and Sharaun’s were the worst. Marjorie’s and Isis’ were the best.

Who is in the greatest need of a makeover?Almost all of them could. Isis could use a little help to soften some of the hard lines that still remain. Clark needs to lose the Brittany Spears’ look. Hannah looks too young and immature to be a model. McKey needs to lose the burgundy hair.

[Edited to add: I just replayed the elimination — did you see the sneering smirk on Clark’s face when Sharaun dropped to a crouch after being eliminated? No wonder. She’s now the Queen of Cockiness. LOL]